Team Israel Baseball is coming to Maryland. On their way to the Olympics, Team Israel will stop in Maryland for an exhibition game with the Aberdeen Ironbirds at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen on July 19, according to the official site of Minor League Baseball.
Team Israel will tour around the Northeastern United States playing nine exhibition games in order to prepare for the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan. Aberdeen will be the team’s last stop after traveling to play the Boulders in Pomona, N.Y., the Bristol Blues and Ocean State Waves in Hartford, Conn., and the Susquehanna Valley Stars in Lancaster, Pa. All of these teams are high ranking minor league baseball teams.
Among the 28 baseball players on Team Israel, seven players have major league baseball experience. In fact, team player Danny Valencia spent two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and Ryan Lavarnway played for the Orioles in 2015.
This will be the first time Team Israel Baseball will be competing in the Olympic Games. It is also the first team to represent Israel at the Olympic Games since Israel’s national soccer team played in Montreal in 1976.
